April Speaker: “Musings of a Mineral Museum Curator,” by Dr. Jeffrey Post

by Cindy Schmidtlein, MSDC Vice President

Our speaker for April is none other than Dr. Jeffrey Post, Mineralogist and Curator-in-Charge of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).

Dr.  Post has been a Research Mineralogist in the NMNH's Mineral Sciences Department since 1984 and Curator-in-Charge of Gems and Minerals for over 32 years. He has been a frequent presenter to our group for many years and has kept us informed of happenings at the wonderful mineralogic resource which is the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. For many of us in MSDC, Jeff's presentation to our group is one of the highlights of the year.

Dr. Post's research interests include environmental mineralogy, single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, manganese oxide minerals, clay minerals, and gemology. He is the recipient of the Carnegie Mineralogical Award which honors outstanding contributions in mineralogical preservation, conservation, and education. He is currently the president of the Mineralogical Society of America.

As this spring he will be transitioning into retirement, Jeff will talk about some highlights of his time at the Museum, but also will provide a review of his 2023 Tucson experience and other news over the past year related to the collection and Department of Mineral Sciences.

Be sure to check out Jeff’s most recent book: The Smithsonian National Gem Collection ― Unearthed: Surprising Stories Behind the Jewels, March 23, 2021.

In this book, the scandals, mysteries, and human stories behind some of the world’s greatest gems are brought to life by the curator of the Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection. The book is available on Amazon HERE.